Featured Research

from universities, journals, and other organizations

When do we lie? When we're short on time and long on reasons

Date:

September 5, 2012

Source:

Association for Psychological Science

Summary:

Almost all of us have been tempted to lie at some point, whether about our GPA, our annual income, or our age. But what makes us actually do it? In a new study, psychological scientists discover that time pressure and available justifications both influence dishonest behavior.

Related Articles

In a study forthcoming in Psychological Science, a journal of the Association for Psychological Science, psychological scientists Shaul Shalvi of the University of Amsterdam and Ori Eldar and Yoella Bereby-Meyer of Ben-Gurion University of the Negev investigated what factors influence dishonest behavior.

Previous research shows that a person's first instinct is to serve his or her own self-interest. And research also shows that people are more likely to lie when they can justify such lies to themselves. With these findings in mind, Shalvi and colleagues hypothesized that, when under time pressure, having to make a decision that could yield financial reward would make people more likely to lie. They also hypothesized that, when people are not under time pressure, they are unlikely to lie if there is no opportunity to rationalize their behavior.

"According to our theory, people first act upon their self-serving instincts, and only with time do they consider what socially acceptable behavior is," says Shalvi. "When people act quickly, they may attempt to do all they can to secure a profit -- including bending ethical rules and lying. Having more time to deliberate leads people to restrict the amount of lying and refrain from cheating."

The researchers first tested participants' tendency to lie when doing so could be easily justified: Approximately 70 adult participants rolled a die three times such that the result was hidden from the experimenter's view. The participants were told to report the first roll, and they earned more money for a higher reported roll.

Seeing the outcomes of the second and third rolls provided the participants with the opportunity to justify reporting the highest number that they rolled, even if it was not the first -- after all, they had rolled that number, just not the first time they rolled the die. Some of the participants were under time pressure, and were instructed to report their answer within 20 seconds. The others were not under time pressure, and had an unlimited amount of time to provide a response.

The experimenters were not able to see the actual die rolls of the participants, to ensure all rolls were private. Instead, in order to determine whether or not the participants had lied about the numbers they rolled, Shalvi and colleagues compared their responses to those that would be expected from fair rolls. They found that both groups of participants lied, but those who were given less time to report their numbers were more likely to lie than those who weren't under a time constraint.

The second experiment followed a similar procedure, except that the participants were not given information that could help them justify their lies: instead of rolling their die three times, they only rolled it once and then reported the outcome. In this experiment, the researchers found that participants who were under time pressure lied, while those without a time constraint did not.

Together, the two experiments suggest that, in general, people are more likely to lie when time is short. When time isn't a concern, people may only lie when they have justifications for doing so.

One implication of the current findings is that to increase the likelihood of honest behavior in business or personal settings, it is important not push a person into a corner but rather to give him or her time," explains Shalvi. "People usually know it is wrong to lie, they just need time to do the right thing."

Association for Psychological Science. "When do we lie? When we're short on time and long on reasons." ScienceDaily. ScienceDaily, 5 September 2012. <www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120905123019.htm>.

Association for Psychological Science. (2012, September 5). When do we lie? When we're short on time and long on reasons. ScienceDaily. Retrieved March 31, 2015 from www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120905123019.htm

Association for Psychological Science. "When do we lie? When we're short on time and long on reasons." ScienceDaily. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2012/09/120905123019.htm (accessed March 31, 2015).

More From ScienceDaily

More Mind & Brain News

Featured Research

Mar. 31, 2015 — Memory and as well as connections between brain cells were restored in mice with a model of Alzheimer's given an experimental cancer drug, researchers report. "With this treatment, cells under ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — A criminologist finds that solitary confinement does not deter inmates from committing further violence in prison. The prisoners in the study who received solitary confinement were no more -- or less ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — Alcoholism takes a toll on every aspect of a person's life, including skin problems. Now, a new research report helps explain why this happens and what might be done to address it. "The clinical ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — Human language likely developed quite rapidly into a sophisticated system, a linguist contends. Instead of mumbles and grunts, people deployed syntax and structures resembling the ones we use today, ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — Coronary heart disease and stroke, two of the leading causes of death in the United States, are diseases associated with heightened platelet reactivity. A new study in humans suggests an underlying ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — A new study had researchers seeking answers to why the therapeutic benefit afforded by SSRIs was so limited in children and teenagers. If researchers can uncover the biological mechanisms preventing ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — New research reveals high-quality early education is especially advantageous for children when they start younger and continue longer. Not only does more high-quality early education significantly ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — During prenatal development, the brains of most animals, including humans, develop specifically male or female characteristics. But scientists have known little about the details of how this ... full story

Mar. 31, 2015 — A history of depression may put women at risk for developing diabetes during pregnancy, according to research. This study also pointed to how common depression is during pregnancy and the need for ... full story

Featured Videos

AAA: Distracted Driving a Serious Teen Problem

AP (Mar. 25, 2015) — While distracted driving is not a new problem for teens, new research from the AAA Foundation for Traffic Safety says it&apos;s much more serious than previously thought. (March 25)
Video provided by AP

Many Don't Know They Have Alzheimer's, But Their Doctors Do

Newsy (Mar. 24, 2015) — According to a new study by the Alzheimer&apos;s Association, more than half of those who have the degenerative brain disease aren&apos;t told by their doctors.
Video provided by Newsy

A Quick 45-Minute Nap Can Improve Your Memory

Newsy (Mar. 23, 2015) — Researchers found those who napped for 45 minutes to an hour before being tested on information recalled it five times better than those who didn&apos;t.
Video provided by Newsy

Related Stories

May 19, 2014 — High school grade point average (GPA) is a strong predictor of future earnings, a study concludes. The findings show that a one-point increase in high school GPA raises annual earnings in adulthood ... full story

Apr. 21, 2014 — Conversations about wartime atrocities often omit certain details. According to research, these omissions can lead people to have different memories for the event depending on social group ... full story

Feb. 13, 2013 — High school students whose friends' average grade point average (GPA) is greater than their own have a tendency to increase their own GPA over the course of a year, according to new ... full story

Feb. 16, 2011 — Unlike Pinocchio, liars do not usually give telltale signs that they are being dishonest. In lieu of a growing nose, is there a way to distinguish people who are telling the truth from those who ... full story

ScienceDaily features breaking news and videos about the latest discoveries in health, technology, the environment, and more -- from major news services and leading universities, scientific journals, and research organizations.